Improvement in skirt-hoops



UNED TATES PATENT rtree.

J. W. BRADLEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN SKIRT-HOOPS.

To. all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosEPH W. BRADLEY, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hoop Skirts; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make anduse the same, reference hein g had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part ofl this specification.

Ihe present invention relates to a certain new and useful improvementin the manner of arranging and combining the steel springs which constitute the hoops oi' ladies skirts in rlayers or groups ot' two or more, placed together flatw'ise, or side by side, and held or incased together by weaving or braiding, so as to add to their strength without diminishing the elasticity of the hoop so formed, and at the same time allow the springs sufficient movement or play upon each other to obviate any rigidity and danger ot' fracture of the springs.

In the accompanying plate of drawings my improvements are represented, Figure 1 being a view of a skirt with my improvements applied, and Fig. 2 a detail view ofone mode of forming a spring.

a a represen-t two thin metallic flat wires or bands, on an enlarged scale, laid together face to face, or broadest surfaces toward each other, and incased in a woven, braided, or otherwise formed covering, b b, made of cotton or any,

suitable textile or other material. These wires aa, bound together as described, constitute one of Inyimproved wire springs, which are used arranged and fastened together with regard to each other in any of the usual modes practiced to form a skirt; but care must be taken that the braided or woven covering of the springs or hoop should not be so close or tight upon the springs as to hold them xed or rigid, for it is necessary that the springs should have some slight motion or sliding longitudinally upon each other, to adapt themselves to the foldings and undulations of the skirt without straining or pinching each other, which might cause the steel to break. f

From the above it is evident that by laying two thin bands or wires together, as described, the elasticity and flexibility of both are retained, and each strengthened by the other, and that advantages are secured not attainable by a single-spring hoop. g

In lieu ofhaving only two bands or wires laid and secured together, as described, more may be used if desired. Also, there are various ways in which they can be covered other than the one speoied-as, for instance, each wire may be separately covered with braid, and then the two held together in and by another braided covering around both, &c.,which may be used without departing from the principles of the present invention.

The hoops so constructed of two or more plates may be used alternately with the hoops of single plates, or at intervals on the skirt;A and I have found 'in practice that they are particularly useful in the lower part of the. 

